BN03-012121

Page 1

Cliff Notes To break isolation, put forth religious message, local priest holds fireside chats Page 5A

In honor of Al

Inside News

Local Lions start memorial award for long-time member to honor nonprofit leader

Classifieds . . . . . . . . 10A Country Living . . . 4A-5A Directory . . . . . . . . . 10A Obituaries . . . . . . . . . 9A

Page 5A

Opinions . . . . . . 7A-12A Police . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6A Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Student News . . . . . . 3A Games . . . . . . . . . . . . 8A Legal Notices . . . . . . . 8A

Serving Bridgton and the surrounding towns of Western Maine since 1870. Vol. 151, No. 3

12 PAGES - 1 Section

Bridgton, Maine

January 21, 2021

NXT WK: ‘Pride’ Awards

www.bridgton.com

(USPS 065-020)

95¢

Looking to cover all bases during budgeting By Wayne E. Rivet Staff Writer As budget work begins, Bridgton officials plan to cover all bases with or without Covid-19 in the picture. While a lot can happen on the pandemic front before the annual town meeting in June, the selectboard wants to be ready with options to insure taxpayers get ample chance to chime in on the proposed budget. Selectman Bear Zaidman recommended that the town manager contact John Tevanian, owner of the Bridgton Drive-In, regarding the possibility of holding a public hearing on the proposed budget if the town is forced to scrap an in-

person town meeting due to Covid-19 protocols (right now, the town hall would be restricted to 50 attendees). “If the weather is good, we could have a microphone people could walk up to and ask questions,” Zaidman said. While more people cast ballots regarding the budget than those that attend in-person annual meetings, one aspect lost is community participation in the process, which Zaidman and Chairman Lee Eastman feel remains an important part of town government. Department heads have started budget reviews with Town Manager Bob Peabody. Officials expect

budget books to be ready by Feb. 19. The “working schedule” calls for: March 1 budget review with department heads; March 9 approve budget. Selectman Paul Tworog asked Peabody to identify priorities in the upcoming budget. “80% of the budget is based on services we deliver to the citizens. I’m not advocating cutting services, unless board is looking to do so; core of services we provide; put aside, capital projects; finish wastewater expansion, inner roads torn up, biggest capital outlay will be funding of that large project,” he said. “There was no increase last year, and I don’t believe there was one the year before. The goal overall is to limit the amount of change in our budget, recognizing the situation a lot of people are in due to the pandemic. My goal is to hold the budget as tight as I can.: Tworog pointed out that there are two ways to save money — cut services or do services more effectively. “I’d like to see some historical figures; estimate cost of the services departments

provide to get a better base where we are vs. cost of services delivered,” Tworog said. Peabody noted that budget sheets will outline costs over the past two years, and department heads provide overviews of services. One example is there are 110 miles of road in Bridgton, and what it costs to plow and maintain. Public Services Director David Madsen has looked at changes in plow routes and whether to clean up Main Street at night vs. during the day as part of his cost analysis review, Peabody noted. In other meeting notes Proper channels. There is a proper channel one must follow if a question or concern arises regarding a town employee’s work, Board of Selectmen Chairman Lee Eastman reminded his colleagues. “Any discussions regarding employees of the town, you bring the town manager into the loop and let him do his job; not for us to go to the employee and discuss what we don’t like,” Eastman said in a brief comment. No other discussion followed.

Ordinance changes on November ballot. While June might seem far away, Community Development Director Linda LaCroix and town planners don’t expect to wrap up work on revising and consolidating some ordinances in time for an annual town meeting vote in June. LaCroix said planners have “substantive questions that will take time to eliminate conflicts” and there are still conversations to be had with the Maine Department of Environmental Protection regarding shoreland rules. “(The board) put pressure on you to get it done in a hurry; there’s a lot of meat in there and soon as I saw the schedule, there is no way pull it off,” Chairman Eastman said. “Even if you did, I would be worried we missed some things along the way. I am glad move to November; there is no sense to do it and not get it right.” Block Grant project. When the Community Development Advisory Committee looked at a list of possible Community Block Grant projects, two members felt were worthy would be to develop side-

walks to the town beach at Highland Lake and build a pedestrian bridge on Willett Road. Estimated costs would be $87,000 without lights for the beach sidewalk and between $250 to $300,000 for the pedestrian bridge. The town is expected to receive $130,000. LaCroix suggested the town tackle the sidewalk project, and tuck away remaining CDBG money for the pedestrian bridge project. Selectman Bear Zaidman was under the impression from a past meeting with CDBG manager Aaron Shapiro that funds awarded had to be expended in the same year. LaCroix said funding could be carried forward if it is applied to a “similar” project. Zaidman suggested that if the town constructs new sidewalks to the beach without lights that conduit be installed for future use, and thus prevent the need to tear up new pavement. Quick takes. Three new road names were approved — Starry Lane, Data Road and Mulligan Way. The town’s ice rink BRIDGTON, Page 3A

Town gym opened on trial basis One-on-One with...

John Wiesemann, Casco’s new CEO

By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — There’s a new code enforcement officer in town. John Wiesemann, who was hired by the Town of Casco in October, brings with him decades of experience in the engineering and surveying field. He says he got his feet wet with the Town of Fryeburg’s code enforcement department. Now, Casco’s shoreland zone promises to keep his feet and hands and mind busy. Wiesemann is a true-blue Mainer. He was born in Bridgton and raised in neighboring Denmark. He took some time this week to answer ten questions for The Bridgton News. B-News: How did you initially get into the code enforcement field? Wiesemann: I worked in the surveying and engineering trade for over 20 years and the company that I worked for was getting to the point where the owner was looking to retire. I thought that I would be well suited for code enforcement because of my background. B-News: What do you like most about working in code enforcement? Wiesemann: I am a people person and I very much enjoy meeting people and helping plan out their project. B-News: What is it that you dislike about code enforcement? Wiesemann: People that play dumb and lie about it. Everyone makes mistakes and things can always be worked out. B-News: How long did you hold the position of CEO in Fryeburg? And, what were some of your accomplishments while there? Wiesemann: I was in Fryeburg for 1 year. Fryeburg helped get my feet wet into the world of code enforcement and was also where I learned assessing as one of my other duties. B-News: As far as code enforcement goes, what are the similarities between the towns of Fryeburg and Casco? Wiesemann: Both towns have a remarkably similar population base. B-News: As far as code enforcement goes, what are the differences between the towns of Casco and Fryeburg? Wiesemann: Casco seems to be a bit busier due to its proximity to Portland. Casco issues more than double the permits that Fryeburg issues. Casco has more waterfront which consumes a lot of my time. B-News: What made you decide to accept the position in Casco? Wiesemann: I had worked in the Lake Region area for 20 years, doing surveying work and really enjoyed the area and thought it would be a great fit. B-News: What are some of the goals for the department for the next six months to year? Wiesemann: I would like to get things moving along a bit faster when it comes to permitting. I feel CASCO CEO, Page 3A

By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer CASCO — It’s the second winter of having activities limited due to COVID19, and everyone is going a little stir crazy. Town officials have decided to open the gymnasium in the Casco Community Center to families, people living together or individuals. Just like signing up for computer time at the library, people will be required to preregister for 45-minute to one-hour long slots. In between uses, the gym will be cleaned. The Casco Board of Selectmen on Tuesday gave the Casco Parks and Recreation Director Beth Latsey the green light to allow people to once again use the gym. “All people, not just kids, need a place where they can go to be active and not be out in the cold,” Latsey said. She already had a game plan. “What I am looking at is small groups. A single

person or a family can come in and throw the ball around and get some exercise,” she said, stressing that it would be strictly for single person use or for family members who live together. “We will take temperatures,” she said. There will be a sign up. Members of the public will be required to register for time slots that would be between 45 minutes and an hour. There would be time allotted for cleaning in between uses. “There would be a 15-minute overlay so we can sanitize. I want to keep it safe. We want to make sure it is clean,” Latsey said. The proposal is that the gym use would happen Tuesday through Friday, between 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., she said. “Not inundated with weekend use. At the very most, one bathroom facility would be available. People would not wander around. They are going to come in one door and go out one door,” she said. GYM, Page 2A

BASKETBALL BREAK — Since March, the Casco Community Center has been closed to the public with the exception of Election Day and municipal meetings. The gymnasium will be open to individuals and families who sign up for time slots. (De Busk Photo)

Pot moratorium needs citizens’ okay By Dawn De Busk Staff Writer NAPLES — It’s nice to know what’s on someone’s mind. Naples’ selectmen and town staff feel like they have a handle on what citizens think about marijuanabased businesses and growing operations in their town. That’s because the town conducted a survey a few years ago asking for people’s opinions on businesses related to adult use of marijuana for recreational and medical purposes. This year, the citizens will weigh in on the matter again when a warrant article is presented asking voters to adopt a marijuana moratorium. The date of Naples Annual Town Meeting has not yet been set, although the town has been aiming for late April. There will be public hearings on the moratorium

before it becomes a warrant article. The board adopted a moratorium that prevents caregivers from joining together and creating a cooperative growing operation. This vote happened in the last quarter of 2020, during a meeting in October and again in November. Essentially, it is closing a loophole, and keeping growing operations smaller. “The moratorium is specifically toward the medical marijuana caregivers. There is a set of rules for them that falls under state regulation that are not part of the opt-in,” according to Naples Town Manager John Hawley. “Because Naples was an opt-out community, we thought that medical marijuana caregivers wouldn’t be allowed to have” larger growing operations in the Town of Naples. “What we discovered is

that caregivers are finding ways to expand operations. That goes against what Naples wanted,” Hawley said, referring to the in the survey, “We are okay with John Smith having his own grow operation for himself and his caregivers. By law, the whole family . . . could each have five caregivers. Then, it would turn into a massive operation,” Hawley said. Naples Code Enforcement Officer Renee Carter said the moratorium is needed. “We have had so many people calling, trying to find buildings in Naples so

they can be caregivers [as a group] and make huge buildings into marijuana cultivation operations,” she said. “By law, the town can be stricter than the state. For example, we are going to allow caregivers. What we can say that a husband and wife caregiver can both grow there. We are going to recommend that they can’t grow more than 30 plants between them,” Carter said. The Naples Ordinance Review Committee (ORC) will be looking at the moratorium. “We are making the lanMORATORIUM, Page 12A

The Bridgton News Established 1870

P.O. Box 244, 118 Main St. Bridgton, ME 04009 207-647-2851 Fax: 207-647-5001 bnews@roadrunner.com


Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook
Issuu converts static files into: digital portfolios, online yearbooks, online catalogs, digital photo albums and more. Sign up and create your flipbook.